The position of Laudian Professor of Arabic at the University of Oxford was established in 1636 by William Laud (pictured), Chancellor of the University of Oxford and Archbishop of Canterbury. The first professor was Edward Pococke, who was working as a chaplain in what is now Syria when Laud asked him to return to Oxford. Laud's university regulations provided that the professor's lectures were to be attended by all medical students and bachelors of arts at the university, although this seems not to have happened since Pococke had few students. In 1881, a university statute provided that the professor was to lecture in "the Arabic, Syriac, and Chaldee Languages", and attached the professorship to St John's College. The number of students studying Arabic increased after the Second World War because of the reputation of Sir Hamilton Gibb and because some had became interested in Arabic culture while serving in the Middle East during the war. The current holder, Julia Bray, is the first woman to hold the position. (Full list...)